The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-05-22
THE GROWING OF SILK.
A nETIER FOOD THAN MULLER.
RY LEAVES DISCOVERED.
Southern Women Take More Keadi-
Iy TO the Work EhRn those
OF the North.

WASHINGTON, May 2l.-That d.
vision OF the Agricultural Depart
ment which has charge Of the distri.
button of silkworm eggs has been SO
busy for the past week that they
think of organizing a strike and de.
handing higher salaries. For several
years Congress has made an annual
appropriation for the encouragement
OF the silk industry in the United
States. A portion of this appropria-
ton is used by the department In
distributing, free of cost, the silk
worm eggs to persons who wish to
become silk producers. Anyone who
applies to the department for eggs
will receive them, accompanied by a
pamphlet containing the necessary
instructions for raising the worms
and producing the cocoons. Then
when they have actually produced
these cocoons, the same department,
with another portion of the fund re-
ferred to, will purchase them, pay
ing therefor regular current market
prices. This obviates one OF the
greatest difficulties encountered by
silk producers in this country, the
want of a ready market for their
product. This industry is in more
healthy state now than it has ever
been. MoIe people are engaging in
the pursuit every year, and more silk
is produced. 1t is a most pleasant
occupation, eminently fitted for
women, and they appreciate this fact
and are entering the ranks of the silk
growers in large numbers. The sta
tistics Of the country show that, as
the States grow older, there is con-
slant increase of females over males,
This fact shows that as we grow old
er there will be constantly increas-
ing number Of women forced to sup
port themselves. The culture Of
silk is peculiarly women s work, re-
curing no physical exertion and be-
ing clean and neat occupation. In
the South, especially, have the
women shown their appreciation of
the facts just cited. AS yet little
has been accomplished in the South
in the manufacture of silk, the prin-
cipal reason being that the supply Of
cocoons is too small and precarious
to warrant it, In the East the silk
manufactures have grown and
fourished under a heavy pro-
tective tariff. This country
will probably never invest
the capital in silk culture that France
has. 1t is an undertaking fraught
with so many dangers that capitalists
will always be 10th to put their
money into it when there are SO many
more reumnerative channels for in
vestment. The only hope of the in
dustry then is that the wives and
daughters of our farmers who have
unemployed time and want to find
some light employment will devote
themselves to the planting of null
berry trees and the raising of silk
worms. An advantage in favor of
silk production in this country is the
large number of Usage orange hedges.
The leaves Of this tree are considered
more excellent food for the
worms than those of the more gem
orally used mulberry tree. In fact
they are considered much better by
some experts. The entomologist of
the Agricultural Department says in
a recent official publication that from
tests he has made he finds that the
silk produced by the mulberry fed
worm is slightly inferior to and
coarser than that obtained by feeding
the worms on the leaves Of the Usage